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Do you wash your hands?

If not you're one of the 15 percent that doesn't in this study

Men do a lot worse than women overall - just 77 percent scrub up, compared with 93 percent of women. But both numbers are up. The last time the survey was done, in 2007, only 66 percent of men washed, and 88 percent of women.

By ELIZABETH WEISEUSA TODAY

Published: Tuesday, September 14, 2010 at 8:50 a.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, September 14, 2010 at 7:12 p.m.

Maybe all that fear of swine flu has had an upside: A new study finds that 85 percent of adults wash their hands in public restrooms, the highest percentage since the studies began in 1996.

But it's a far cry from the 96 percent of adults who say they always wash their hands in public restrooms, based on a separate telephone survey.

Men do a lot worse than women overall - just 77 percent scrub up, compared with 93 percent of women. But both numbers are up. The last time the survey was done, in 2007, only 66 percent of men washed, and 88 percent of women.

The study was sponsored by the American Society for Microbiology and the American Cleaning Institute. It involved discreetly observing 6,028 adults in public restrooms in August to see whether they really washed their hands.

“You'll be healthier if you wash hands,” says Ronald Atlas, a professor of public health at the University of Louisville in Kentucky. Especially with illnesses such as common colds, shigella and flu, he says, “when people begin to wash their hands, we see those diseases go away.”

<p>Maybe all that fear of swine flu has had an upside: A new study finds that 85 percent of adults wash their hands in public restrooms, the highest percentage since the studies began in 1996.</p><p>But it's a far cry from the 96 percent of adults who say they always wash their hands in public restrooms, based on a separate telephone survey.</p><p>Men do a lot worse than women overall - just 77 percent scrub up, compared with 93 percent of women. But both numbers are up. The last time the survey was done, in 2007, only 66 percent of men washed, and 88 percent of women.</p><p>The study was sponsored by the American Society for Microbiology and the American Cleaning Institute. It involved discreetly observing 6,028 adults in public restrooms in August to see whether they really washed their hands.</p><p>“You'll be healthier if you wash hands,” says Ronald Atlas, a professor of public health at the University of Louisville in Kentucky. Especially with illnesses such as common colds, shigella and flu, he says, “when people begin to wash their hands, we see those diseases go away.”</p>